Holiness: For the Will of God Is Your Sanctification – 1 Thessalonians 4:3 [Annotated, Updated]

by J.C. Ryle

Finally, a scriptural view of sin will prove to be an admirable antidote to those low views of personal holiness that are so painfully prevalent in these last days of the church. This is a very painful and delicate subject, I know, but I dare not turn away from it. It has long been my sorrowful conviction that the standard of daily life among professing Christians in this country has been gradually falling. I am afraid that Christlike charity, kindness, good character, unselfishness, humility, gentleness, patience, self-denial, zeal to do good, and separation from the world are far less appreciated than they ought to be, and they are far less common than they used to be in the days of our fathers.